Schumer: I'm torn over amendment

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a leader of the Senate Gang of Eight, would not commit Thursday to voting for an amendment in the immigration bill that would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign partners for green cards.

Schumer stressed that he backs the amendment, but all four Republican negotiators say they would not be able to support the immigration bill if the language were included.

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“Look, this one is something … I worry about all the time,” Schumer told reporters during a break in the daylong Judiciary Committee markup of the legislation. “I’m a good sleeper, but I wake up in the morning thinking of these things, sometimes early in the morning.”

When asked if he would vote for the amendment, called the Uniting American Families Act, Schumer said: “I’m not going to get into speculatives.”

“I would like very much to see it in the bill, but we have to have a bill that has support to get UAFA passed,” Schumer added. “That’s the conundrum. Because if there’s no bill, there’s no UAFA, either.”

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has filed two versions of the amendment extending rights to gay, binational couples. One would be for “permanent partners,” and a narrower proposal would apply only for legally married gay couples.

Leahy has not indicated when, or if, he would formally offer the amendment.